Obama unveils $100M program to map human brain

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday outlined a government-sponsored initiative to map the human brain, casting the proposal as a way to discover new cures for neurological disease and strengthen the economy.

"Ideas are what power our economy," Obama said as he announced the proposal from the East Room of the White House. "When we invest in the best ideas before anybody else does, our businesses and our workers can make the best products and deliver the best services before anybody else."

The project would use about $100 million in federal money over the next fiscal year to begin a long-term effort to better understand the brain. Those funds will be included in Obama's budget proposal, scheduled for release next week, and would be combined with annual private-sector investments of roughly an equal amount.

Obama has spoken frequently during his presidency about using federal money in partnership with academia and business to foster projects with broader economic and social benefits. And the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative represents one of Obama's most ambitious efforts to do so.

Obama named Alzheimer's disease, autism and post-traumatic stress disorder among the afflictions that could be better understood, if not cured, through this initiative.

"As humans we can identify galaxies light-years away, we can study particles smaller than an atom," Obama said. "But we still haven't unlocked the mystery of the three pounds of matter that sits between our ears."

Associated Press

President Barack Obama announces the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative at the White House on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON

Health care subsidies could raise tax bills

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